Schedule

© Creighton Michael, SQUIGGLE Tenri, 2007. Graphite, paper, acrylic and rope, variable dimensions 8-13 ft. long. Courtesy of the artist.

Leaded. The Materiality and Metamorphosis of Graphite features 35-40 artworks by approximately 15 contemporary artists who utilize the physical nature and characteristics of graphite and pencils as content in their two-and three-dimensional work. The art in Leaded..., while employing a fundamental drawing media, stands outside of the generalized history of modern drawing. The role of mark-making is subsumed or completely absent from many of the pieces. Likewise, representation is a secondary motivation. The title Leaded refers to the inaccurate yet still-used term "lead pencil" and its symbiotic relationship between object and material. The fact that the material is popularly misnamed parallels the transformative and metaphorical role of graphite in art. The exhibition presents artwork grouped into three overlapping themes.

Graphite as Content: In these drawings the subject matter is seamlessly merged with the graphite medium. Works range from the fantastical yet geometric interiors by Hsin-Hsi Chen, the primordial "landscapes" made of graphite, oil and resin on aluminum sheets by Christopher Cook, the silhouettes of leaves and trees made of accumulated layers of graphite on wood panels by Meghan Gerety, and Mark Sheinkman's playful use of negative space in this works created simultaneously with pencil and eraser on paper. Most minimal of all are the drawings of Gloria Ortiz-Hernández, in which circles and squares of varying gradation appear to emerge from within the center of the paper.

Graphite as Transformative Agent: These two-and three-dimensional objects are made of materials that are transformed through the application or removal of graphite. James Busby's monolithic "paintings" of graphite and gesso on canvas resemble heavy industrial products. Sarah Lovitt's mixture of graphite and wax transforms the traditional drawing material into sculpture mass. Stefana McClure and Stephen Sollins focus on the communicative role of graphite through the obliteration of text and imagery in their works on paper.

Graphite as Sculpture: These pieces employ graphite and pencils as sculptural material within a conceptual framework and/or systemic formation. The Art Guys use pencils and graphite in an almost fetishistic manner to create their sculptures that range from an orb of pencils, and one of erasers, repeatedly rolled over sheets of paper. Marco Maggi and Creighton Michael tackle graphite's materiality with works such as a pile of graphite on a Plexiglas shelf tucked into the corner of a wall (Maggi) and sculptures that subtract gesture from drawing, reducing mark-making to physical symbols made of graphite, paper pulp, and wood (Michael).

The exhibition was organized by N. Elizabeth Schlatter, Deputy Director and Curator of Exhibitions at the University of Richmond Museums, Virginia, and organized for tour by International Arts and Artists, Washington, D.C.

©Dianne Kornberg, Water buttercup from Open Places Series, 2007. Pigment ink jet prints on rag paper, 24 x 17". Courtesy of the artist.

The Dance Department and Western Gallery of the College of Fine and Performing Arts are proposing a performance/teaching residency in collaboration with the visual arts that look at art as social commentary.

Performance/Residency with Montréal Danse (April 1-14): The teaching/performance residency with Montréal Danse will occur within a visual environment by photographer Dianne Kornberg at the Western Gallery. The residency is scheduled for April 1-15, 2008 and will feature adjudicated performances of The FURIES Alpha 1/24 (The Monsters Within).

Kathy Casey, Artistic Director, states: "FURIES Alpha 1/24 (The Monsters Within) is an all out, breakneck dance of fury and desire driven by rage, tenderness, monstrous speed, shifting alliances and seduction. A pulsing voyage of passion, loss and hope propelled by an urgent and rhythmical score from the composer Éric Forget in a visual environment by noted painter François Vincent." The work is inspired by the holocaust-not World War II, but the phenomena of the damage we do to each other in the name of war or religion or race. It is not literal. It is impressionistic in nature. There are no identifiable characters or plot-but strong emotional connotations among the performers that suggest grief, fear, loss, abuse of power, wrestling with demons and hope.

Visual Art: The Montréal Danse performances will take place in the Western Gallery featuring Dianne Kornberg's Field Notes: Photographs from the Biology Lab, 1992-2007. Kornberg makes beautiful vintage toned gelatin silver photographs and pigment inkjet prints of biological and botanical specimens which intrigue and repulse the viewer. From imperfectly developed forms to marine life to the skeletal remains of animal and insects in boxes, she provides the evidence of life eroded by use and time. As Terry Toedtemeier, Curator of Photography at the Portland Art Museum, wrote, "...bones come to life, and that life dances, disintegrates, or passes into a chaos of fragments that testify to the complexity of existence." Montréal Danse's "pulsing" range [1-24] of passions are played against the structural complexity of the photographed specimens resonating with order and chaos, control and lack of control. A selection of Kornberg's photographs will set the stage for the Montréal Danse's performances, April 1-14 (3 performances per week for two weeks); the entire exhibition will be presented April 16-May 31.

The exhibition of Kornberg's photographs was organized by Terry M. Hopkins, Director and Curator, The Art Gym, Marylhurst University and supported in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. Kornberg is known for her work with natural history specimens, drawing upon collections from Reed College and the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories, among others. Kornberg grew up in Richland, Washington, and was attracted to science and collecting even in high school. After studying painting, she turned to photography in the 1980s. Her intense and elegant photographs have been shown at major venues across the United States.

Visual Art Students Response to Dance and Kornberg's Photographs: In a small gallery within the Western Gallery, students in a seminar taught by Julia Sapin, Art Historian, will arrange an exhibition in response to the themes of Furies... and Kornberg's photographs. Both Casey and Kornberg will initially visit the seminar to speak about their art. The students will select works from the Al and Vera Leese Collection (Gift of Marian Boylan, Bellingham) which will amplify various sub-themes, such as natural and artistic processes; reality and illusion; the subject of authority, scientific evidence and artistic invention; social constructs; art and political power. The "response exhibition" will be on view during the Montréal Danse performances.